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OCTOBER MEETING REPORT
by Bud Vye, Retired CFM
Having initially had a program on the Greater Richmond Convention Center
back in April of Y2K, when we had our Social at the Sin'e pub and then
went upstairs to SMBW's offices where we met with Will Scribner of that
firm (the lead architect on the project) and Al Adams of Turner (the GC,
who had formed a partnership with minority contractors H.J. Russell of At-lanta
& Davis Brothers of Richmond in order to meet the City of Richmond
directive that there be at least 16% minority participation on the project). As
we packed SMBW's conference room, they gave us a presentation using
the plans and renderings for the project that had recently gotten underway.
Impressed with the magnitude of the project, and the tight time schedule
(with the main Ballroom promised a year hence in order to hold the 2001
Maymont Flower Show, although final completion was not due until early
'03) we promised to meet again after completion to see how they had done.
Sure enough, in March of '03, during Mark Nicol's term as Chapter President, just a couple of weeks after
completion of construction, we met in one of the huge facility's 34 Junior Ballrooms to again hear Al Ad-ams,
this time about how the project had gone. Will Scribner was unable to be with us this time, instead
sending his firm's Jonathan Fraser to pinch hit for him. Adams reported that the job had come in on time
(to accommodate the Flower Show) and on budget (which had originally been $129 million but had been
increased to $170 million as the owners had added a bridge from the parking deck across 5th St. and sev-eral
other major items to the original scope of work, with an excellent safety record. He mentioned that
some “serious value engineering” had taken place in order to keep the price down, but that the 60' high
atrium in the registration area, some stained glass windows, cherry paneling, Axminster wool carpeting,
and Ed Carpenter's $325,000 glass rod and bar sculpture, with computer controlled lighting that it refracts
& reflects, mounted in the east bridge over Marshall St. were left in in order to keep the building from
looking “stark or austere”, with Carpenter's sculpture to be the “conversation piece” of the project.
Larry Mitchell of the Convention Center's staff gave us the facts and figures ---- 693,000 sq. ft. covering 5
full blocks vs. the old building's 120,000; 180,000 sq. ft. of Exhibit Hall vs. the old one's 60,000; 50,000
sq. ft. of Meeting Rooms, plus a 29,000 sq. ft. Ballroom; the Convention & Visitor's Bureau Offices; and
the Richmond Visitors Center which had been moved down here from up on Robin Hood Rd. by The Dia-mond.
The project had been paid for with $10 million from the State, the remainder being split among the
entities who make up the ownership of the Authority that will operate it --- Richmond 50%, Henrico 35%,
Chesterfield 13%, and Hanover 2%. After the briefing, Adams, Fraser, & Mitchell took us for a tour,
where John Massad was all smiles as he showed off the tables and chairs that JMJ had supplied in the
Food Court. As we were going through, an Auto Show was being set up in the Exhibit Hall, while the Mid-
Eastern Athletic Conference men's and women's basketball tournament's banquet was going on in the
Ballroom with Debo Dabney's group (still going strong today) providing the music.
Now we fast forward 15 years to 10/10/17, where our meet-ing
attracted a fairly light turnout of 36. Entering from the 3rd
& Marshall entrance where we checked in with Barbe & An-drea
at the west end of the high ceilinged Registration area,
and Aramark (still providing the building's food service) had
provided some very nice hors d'oeuvres, featuring tasty
stuffed mushrooms and pot stickers, with soft drinks & water,
set up just outside one of the 34 Junior Ballrooms where we
were to meet. After a lengthy networking period, the call was
given to move inside the room, where VP Adam Larsen, in
(Continued on page 8)